


Stained or Washed in Blood?

by Valdyr



Series: The Angel Within [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Blood and Torture, Episode: s02e22 All Hell Breaks Loose, Implied pedophilia, M/M, Not from Lucifer though, Revenge, Sadism, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-08 08:26:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10382556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valdyr/pseuds/Valdyr
Summary: Samifer travels back to delay Azazel's death and make him pay properly first.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am serious, if you get triggered or just don't like it, STOP reading at the horizontal line, there is a summary with all you need to know for future stories in the End Notes.
> 
> Btw: I know that canon made Azazel impervious to holy water at the end of season one, but later older demons were affected by it so I'll discount that as plot convenient continuity error.

He strained and writhed against the unseen powers, but the demon held him against the tree with ease, talking to Dean without breaking a sweat. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he could see them, that monster crouching by his bleeding brother, the Colt in its filthy hands.

Bobby and Ellen were still trying to close the gate. A freaking gate to hell! For real? But then the tides turned, a ghost from hell grabbed the demon, tearing it out of its body and Azazel's hold on him collapsed. He fell, but stood again in no time, terrified to miss something and find a loved one dead.

And when he did, the demon had retaken its body, but now Dean had grabbed the Colt, that the empty body had dropped. Now Dean had a chance and the demon that had killed their mother was too shocked to move. Dean could-

The air crackled all of a sudden and there was a flash of blinding light above. In suprise all looked on instinct and... fuck, that looked like a comet coming at them! What the hell? But they were not alone in their disbelief. Azazel outright squeaked in terror and made a dash for it, clearly horrified by what he saw.

They didn't even know how to act. What was going on? They could only watch. And as they did, the would-be comet changed its course to pursue the running demon and crashed into the ground right in front of it, throwing it back with a shockwave that knocked them all to the ground.

The harsh contact with hard soil had them dizzy and disoriented, but a heavy clonk shook them up and next they looked the gate was closed, Bobby and Ellen scrambling away from it in fear of the creature that stood before it now. But Azazel, who appeared to accept that trying to run was a fool's errand now, was also shaking with fear. So what was this that terrified a demon? And who's side was it on?

They didn't know, but it seemed to have little interest in them anyway, as it first turned to the ghost, John as they saw now, dad. But as it turned to the ghost, they could also finally see its face, as light fell on it to reveal it looking exactly like Sam. It had longer hair, but the face was the same! How?

Even its voice was Sammy's as it addressed the ghost:

"You no longer belong on this plane. Bid your sons goodbye now."

And whatever John's ghost saw that they didn't, it nodded to the Sam-imposter and looked over to them. It, he, even stepped up to him and squeezed his first born's shoulder, looking over to Sam with a smile. He looked so relieved, so happy really. But could this really be him? Hell _had_ been open. But there was also a creature looking like Sam and right then, that creature stepped up behind their dad.

He looked back over his shoulder and nodded and then it moved its arms up around him and there was a whoosh and dad disappeared in a column of flickering light. The false Sam looked after him to the sky, but now that there was silence again, at least in the physical realm, Dean trained his gun at the imposter.

"What did you just do to him? Who the hell are you? What are you?! Just what the hell is going on?!!!"

"I sent him where he belongs, Dean. His contract is expired and his sacrifice grants him salvation. His soul is in heaven now."

"...Fine. And what are you?!"

"What could I be? What routs demons out and raises souls? I really don't consider your aggressive stance appropriate for my kind."

The Winchesters exchanged uncertain looks with each other and their friends. Bobby had an idea of course, but no hunter would say that they believed an angel had come to them. Yet the creature just shrugged and turned to the demon, that was trying to sneak away while they were distracted.

"I am a bit insulted that you don't recognize me, Azazel."

The demon winced at being caught and turned back around, whole body tense and trembling:

"I should recognize you in specific?"

"Oh, Azie, you sacrificed so many nuns just to talk to me for a bit and now that I'm standing right in front of you, you just want to leave?"

The hunters were getting a really bad feeling at such words delivered in such a playfully mock-hurt tone. And that it was Sam's voice just made everything worse, but the demon was stunned now. His tension fell away and his jaw dropped open:

"My lord? I thought... I had no idea... I... I'm sorry. Oh, by all that is holy, it is you?!"

Azazel sank to his knees in the dirt and looked up to the creature with such awe as they would never have thought a demon capable of. What was this???

Dean cocked his demon killing gun at the creature, now really at the end of his nerve:

"You got ten seconds to tell me what the freaking hell you are, or I won't care anymore and you'll just be dead."

And the creature just smirked in his face, using Sam's face, which was really grating on him by now:

"You won't. There is only one bullet in that thing right now for the two of us and you won't use it on me, anyway. You would never shoot your own brother. At this point in time, you just sold your soul to save him."

At the last bit, Sam's head whipped around to him, but Dean did not have the luxury to care about that:

"You look like Azazel's boss to me, so you're the one behind this all. It's all on you and if I have to choose, I'll kill the big bad now and find another way for your minion later. Because you are not my brother and getting me soft by using his face won't work. Answer, or I will shoot you son of a bitch."

"Watch it, boy!"

He startled, so focused on the creature that he had all but forgotten about Azazel, who viciously hissed at him, eyes flaring yellow with emotions the ever aloof monster had never shown before. Seriously, what was this creature that changed all the rules so drastically?

"Yeah, why should I? You're all just scum, wh-"

"I warned you! Don't you dare speak to my lord like that. He is the most powerful entity you'll ever see. Our creator, our god! You fear demons, little hunter? Then you better behave, 'cause you're out of your league here, standing before the devil himself!"

He could only gulp. The devil? They had let the devil out? Fucking gate... He couldn't really breathe anymore. The devil?! It sighed through his brother's face and he couldn't think anymore. This was the devil. He pointed the gun at it's forehead on autopilot, but the devil was unafraid.

He didn't get it, though. They'd find another way to kill the demon. This was the devil. And he had one bullet left for the gun that could kill everything. Even just to aim at that face was a hardship, but it wasn't Sam. That was the devil, he reminded himself, while Sam was behind him. He had do this _for_ Sammy. So he pulled the trigger.

When the shot rang out, everybody held their breaths. He watched almost in slow motion, as the devil's head was jerked back, a big black hole in it, and the body dropped to the ground. Dead. Azazel freaked out in distress and disbelief, shaking the motionless body and Dean got a strange feeling of uncertain glee. Had he just shot the devil dead? He couldn't believe it! And he shouldn't.

The not so dead body on the ground emitted a groan and tossed the hysterical demon away with a snap from its fingers. Azazel annoyed him. And Dean had just catapulted himself on the devil's bad side. But he couldn't change the past in such a way that it would change the present. What a pity. He would have loved to empty a few magazines from various guns into the hunter in retribution.

Sam inside him was still too dizzy from the effects of the gun to mind it. But, whatever. He was certainly not playing nice anymore. For a moment he enjoyed Dean's falling face as the bullet hole faded away, then he beat his wings and chuckled at the hunter's shock when he was suddenly gone.

In fear the older Winchester turned to get his brother to safety, only to find him unconscious in the arms of his look-alike, two fingers on his forehead to knock him out and implant the memories of what would have happened if the devil had stayed away. The let his later vessel down gently as all three remaining hunters got ready to shoot him with everything they had, not thinking about the fact that he had just proven even the best gun they had ever had had failed to leave so much as a permanent dent on him.

Before they could ruin his clothes with their useless bullets, though, he beat his wings again and landed behind Ellen and Bobby, tipping their heads and adjusting the insides in moments. Dean twisted to take aim again, but he was no match for an angel, not even if that one was so limited by his co-pilot and the circumstances. Without ado, the devil knocked him out, too, and adjusted his memories.

When all humans were dealt with, the yellow-eyed demon perked up again, apologizing for his earlier behavior. But the devil just told him to stay put until he returned and quickly flew the survivors to the next places they had slept in according to the memories he had stolen from their present day versions before his journey and implanted them with just now to replace his revised version of the actual events in their heads.

And when he returned to the graveyard afterwards, he found Azazel eagerly awaiting new orders from his creator. Demons, Lucifer snorted internally, just like lemmings around him. How they could think that an angel would like them was beyond him. Sure, when Azazel first saw him and realized what he was, he had been afraid. But now? They were just too easy.

"What a good boy you've been, waiting for me."

"Of course, my lord. I am so glad that everything worked out, I hadn-"

"Shush."

The demon's jaw snapped shut and he waited silently, still smiling. Idiot.

"You've been good now, done everything you had to do, but you did some really bad things before and it's not like you're needed anymore."

"My lord? I am not sure I understand..."

"Oh, you do. It was no idiot that found a way to mutter through the walls of my cage. You have done some pretty terrible things and Sam hates you for it. ...This is him, too, you know? You know about possession and that's what I'm doing, so you'll see that Sam Winchester remains here in his body."

"But the other..."

"Oh, you thought I came through the gate? Please don't be like that. Like some ignorant human. You freed Lilith, not me, I will only get out in two years' time. Then I will possess Sam and here and now I've returned to in order to speak with you. Did you never hear about the ability of angels to move through more than just space?"

"In ancient rumors, yes, but I had not believed it."

"You better. This is me and Sam from the future. And we came back here, because you are long dead when I get out."

Azazel gulped, but thinking about it more clearly, he figured:

"I would have died through the Colt. You saved me."

"You would indeed, but I can not. Even angels can't twist time into a paradox. You die tonight."

"...I see. I am grateful that this allowed me at least to see that what I worked so hard for will succeed. Thank you. But I doubt you came for my benefit. What is your desire, my lord?"

"Oh, I didn't come for my own benefit, either. I am here for Sam."

"He is still alive and conscious? Despite ...hosting you?"

"Of course. We are very close, too. Not just literally. I like him and he likes me. But your problem now is that he doesn't like you. In fact, he hates you with a passion. And I don't really care about you now that you've done everything I needed you for. I only care about him, so I came to give him a chance to vent his hatred at you. With all the powers of an angels."

The devil smiled and the demon paled. A Winchester, his Winchester, had come from the future to 'vent his hatred' at him with an angel backing him up. He could guess what the avenging angel before him had planned and in that moment, no telling himself that it wouldn't work could stop him. He blasted demonic energy against the angel while simultaneously trying to zap away, but the blast was reflected and razor-feathered wings enclosed him before he could make a single step into either the physical or non-physical plane.

The devil had come for him and he had neither fight nor flight for options. There were none, really. He was lost. In the middle of nowhere, no-one even heard his screams, but for Sam and Lucifer. And neither could pity a demon. He begged his creator, saying that he had only helped him, only done as ordered, but the devil laughed. He begged Sam, too. But the only thing that happemed was that Lucifer let Sam reign their body, the shift in the way they held themselves clear, and the hunter hit him again and again with the powers of the angel inside him.

Lucifer just sat back within and let Sam do what he wanted. He was not really angry at Azazel himself, but it was amusing to watch the two with the power imbalance turned around. And it was go to see Sam just act on all that pent up anger of his, breaking the demon's bones and splattering his blood in a mess with brute force.

The hunter had none of the finesse that had created Lilith, but it hurt. And most damage came with the terror anyway. The 'my maker allows this, but what if his pet asks for him to join?'. It was the desperate trying to talk Sam out of it before he bored of his own lack of creativity and called on the expert. And Azazel was hella desperate to prevent that.

Lucifer doubted that that would happen. He felt Sam's hatred and to him it seemed pretty strong. But he was not infallible, especially not when he let his confidence, aka his pride, precede his caution. The demon was despairing and tried everything he got:

"Sam, Sam, I've always just- Urgh! I... Wait, no, Sam I understand if you hate me, but- Ahh! But what about HIM! He's innocent!"

"Who him?"

"The human! The human host! He's innocent and you would never hurt an innocent human, now would you?"

Lucifer groaned in realization and before the shocked Winchester's eyes, the demon surrendered control to the human owner of the shared, by now shattered body. And the human begged for it all to end. He was just a janitor, possessed during his work in a hospital. The hospital where Dean had almost died and John had summoned Azazel to make a deal for his life in exchange for his own.

'Luci, is there really...? This is not Azazel acting, this is a real human victim, isn't it?'

'Oh please, Sam...'

'Just tell me if there is a human soul in this body.'

'Technically... yes. But it's been dragged around by a demon for a year now, it's probably already numb to any pain-'

'It doesn't look like that to me. ...We have to save him.'

'What?! Sam, this is earth, not hell, we can't properly punish a demon here if we take him out of his body!'

'But we can not just do the same to some poor possessed human! He has suffered eough. Find another way.'

'I will not take you to hell and there is no other way here, he has to be inside a body or I won't be able to get any more specific than to hold him or kill him.'

'He... we... Wait. Any body?'

'Any body.'

'What about mine?'

'What?!'

'We talk in my head; heck we could have sex in my head. Can we deal with Azazel here, too?'

He had never felt Lucifer being so completely flabbergasted, but there was also a tiny little 'yes' somewhere in there.

'Good. Then get Azazel out of the civilian and heal him. ...Just do what you did with Julia. Okay?'

'...You want to get that thing in here with us?!'

'No, but I am not ready to abandon our mission just because that son of a bitch uses a human shield and this is the only way.'

He could feel his body shudder from Lucifer's disgust, but the angel brought the demon-possessed human to his face and inhaled like he wanted to exhale a thunderstorm, drawing the desperate demon out of his host body and into his own vessel. He almost choked on the black smoke, but he knew how to deal with the lesser possessor.

His own rage building, he briefly healed the human and wiped the last ten years off his mind. Oops, whatever. Sam didn't understand their angelic side well enough to notice, so he just dumped the amnesic human in the next hospital and found a quiet place to rest his vessel so they wouldn't be bothered when he would deal with its two co-inhabitors.

'Alright, now you will get to see my palace. I'll just disconnect your mind and body.'

For a moment Sam was startled by that last sentence, but then the world fell away and he woke up in what looked like an observatory. Lucifer in his blond, tall and looks to die for shape was waiting next to him, his face a picture of annoyance. But there is some excitement mixed into it, too.

"We're in my head."

"Yep, come take a look."

Sam took the offered hand and suddenly they were standing on the walk along the battlements of a massive fortress atop a mountain.

"What the- Where are we?!"

"I thought you'd like an overview first. Sam, this is your mind palace. Okay, it might look more like a stronghold from here, but I swear it's more palace-y on the inside. ...What? Sam, angels are quite literal mind-readers. They invade perceptions and dreams with ease. You needed some defenses. These appearances are just decor, of course. You wouldn't be able to perceive a mental battle between angels otherwise. All of this is an adaption to things you can understand. But I did my best, considering just how many senses you are missing."

"...I miss senses?"

"Of course, you can't perceive souls, electrical fields or any other energy beside light and warmth, you can't perceive height in the sense of distance from the next core of gravitation, you can't deduce the time or properly measure its passage, even though some of you say otherwise. And of course you have no understanding of the mental plane, so minds, heaven and hell all appear to you like the earth you know. But nevermind. I wanted to show you around."

And he did, showing Sam a building of hundreds of rooms, several of them libraries with both their categorized knowledge in books and discs for their home theater. There were various walk-in closets for their mental appearances, studios, a whole tower with only bedrooms, posh, simplistic or with themes. There were thermae, playgrounds and halls with all games ever invented, records of all music they had ever known. There was everything they could ever and never need.

"Wow, just wow."

"I know... But I got bored and I knew that you wouldn't want me to get creative out there, so I tried to keep myself busy in here. It didn't really work, though. As you noticed."

"Yeah, yeah, I did. And where is Azazel?"

"Well, his knowledge is stored for later use, but his conciousness is in the dungeon. Obviously."

"We have a dungeon?"

"Two, actually. One for playing, in the fun tower. And one for serious business. I added it when you told me to allow him in here. Couldn't very well have him just running around in your head unchecked, could I?"

"No, I guess not."

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

He took Lucifer's hand, partly to guide him and partly for courage, and the devil transported them to his mental dungeon, filled with instruments of torture, that confirmed that he liked not to be on the devil's bad side, and placed to grant a good hard look at what was to come the cells, one of which was occupied by the yellow-eyed demon.

 

* * *

 

"So, Azazel, your shield is gone and you're here with us! Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Please, my lord, my master, and Sam, I only did as I was told! I did what _you_ told me to do!"

"Not quite, yucky, and you know it. And even though you tried to defend yourself with the reminder that you got a human in there, too, well... You will probably soon wish you hadn't said that. For one, becaiuse letting you into my vessel has really gotten me pissed and, secondly, because melding our minds like this has shown me your secrets, Azazel. I mean I knew that you liked what you had to do just a bit too much. But this?"

Azazel shied away from the bars with dread in his eyes, but Sam was confused now:"W-what are you talking about? What more is there?"

"Hm. Do you want to tell him or should I do that?"

Azazel shook his head almost in slow motion, but the devil smirked and with a snap of his fingers, a row of framed portraits appeared on the walls.

"Any of those look familiar, Sammy?"

"Yeah, all; that's..."

There were teachers, other students, friends, even his best friend from college, Brady.

"What about them? Luci...? Did he hurt them, too?!"

"Oh, no. He didn't hurt them. He sent them."

"What?"

"Sorry to break such news to you, Sam, but all of these were possessed by demons Azazel had sent to stalk you all your life."

"...What?!"

He was getting weak at the knees, shaky. He couldn't believe it; in that moment he needed Azazel to deny it. But when he looked over, the caged demon just backed further away, muttering that he had only done what was necessary.

"But... But Brady? When? When?! He introduced me to Jess! When was he possessed?!"

"Sorry, Sam. The demon introduced you."

"Why?!"

"To give you a reason to hunt. They gave you someone to love only to rip her away again and thus make you thirst for revenge."

Okay, he had hated Azazel for killing his father, his mother and Jess, but to find out now that Jess had only been given to him to die? That was too much. But at least he knew that Azazel could not have given him his mother and father only to take them away again.

But as he thought that, he could see both angel and demon tense.

"What? What am I missing now? What more could there possibly be?!"

"Tehnically, Azazel killed your grandparents, too, and your father twice, the first time before you were born to force your mother to make a deal with him so he would be able to enter your house when you were six months old. And yes, he did kiss her."

He felt sick:"...He what?"

"Kissed her, to seal the deal. And for personal pleasure. He deemed her positively feisty."

Yep, he was definitely feeling sick. Especially when he looked over and saw Azazel getting dreamy from the memories, yellowed pupils expanding and biting his lower lip. Fuck, that son of a bitch really enj... Just fuck.

"And then he killed her."

"Many serial killers like to stab women, especially in the abdomen, as surrogate penetration."

"Stop it. I don't want to hear that."

"Of course, demons have many ways that sane souls deem sick. I'm really sorry for that. I would never have sent a demon to you as a babe if there had been any other option."

And if that tone was not foreboding... Sam knew that he wouldn't like the answer, but if he didn't know, his mind might very well cook up worse:

"Why exactly? Please let it be the last, but tell me what more there is."

"Demons are beyond saving, all innocence and purity ripped away from them. As a result they are often drawn to the innocent and pure. Virgins, children, especially babies, just the like. Most demons simply love to eat babies, it excites them, but... Let's just say that infecting you with demon blood also meant putting his own bodily fluids into the mouth of kid."

This time Sam did retch, their placement in the mental plane being the only reason he didn't outright vomit. Demons were... just foul. He didn't even want anything to do with them anymore. Part of him still craved revenge, but most of him simply refused to ever near Azazel again. And to think that he had made Lucifer allow that thing inside his body... He felt incredibly guilty for that now.

"Lucifer, you can do everything you want to him. I'll just watch from here."

And it was like a flip had been switched.

Azazel cried out to Sam telling him over and over that it wasn't his fault, but Lucifer flung his cell open and grabbed him with blatant eagerness He hauled the demon out and toward the instruments and completely ignored whatever his charge spoke, until one thing:

"Lucifer, my lord, you... he... No, he commanded you! You can't allow that, can you? A human can't order the devil around! He made it sound like he let you off his leash, but surely it is you who dominates him! An angel wouldn't obey a human, would you? Please? No? You do? You do! You let him order you?! An... of course. Angels were made to obey, weren't they? Even after you have rebelled against God, you still have that same desire to serve and please as any other angel. You just found yourself a new-"

"SHUT UP! I don't obey anyone! I just awaited his agreement for the sake of concord with the soul that feeds my power! I LIKE him, I do NOT SERVE him!!! And I tire of your speaking."

Trembling from barely contained rage, he brought the demon down on his knees, locked him into a yoke that went behind his neck and tore all clothes off his upper body to bare him throat to belly, a canvas he craved to paint with blood, as Sam believed. But he didn't know torture like the devil did. Especially not after he had been made to swallow that disgusting black smoke. Before all else, Azazel needed to share that repulsive experience. But the great thing about having the demon in Sam's mind was that there really were no physical restrictions.

He just made one last adjustment first, peeling the lids off Azazel's eyes with the help of a scalpel he had zapped up, so they wouldn't get in the way of his plans, and then he shifted himself. Sam might never have thought twice about that story that named him the serpent in paradise, but in the mental plane, the devil could be whatever he wanted to be.

When his pupils turned to slits, Azazel made a noise like a closed-mouthed yelp. Then his grin revealed his canines elongating enough to put any movie vampire to shame and curving around his chin, dripping already. scales protruded to cover skin and hair and his mouth shot out to form a snout, while all other extremeties reduced and disappeared, as his neck expanded and arched and a tail coiled out of his fading clothes.

A bright white serpent with sapphire eyes remained in his humanoid appearance's stead. And it was as huge as it was venomous, winding itself around the demon tightly enough to make his ribs creak in his chest and fill his heart with a new kind of dread before the elegant beast bowed above his head and let its acidic poison drip onto his face.

It sizzled where it hit harshly enough to hide the demon's pained hiss each time but not his wince. And then the snake hissed and toxic spray mist elicited a first little scream as the demon's skin began to bubble and turn to soap and he could not contain his sounds anymore. But the snake seemed more surprised than satisfied with his reaction:

"Gone sssoft on earthhh, Azzazzel? That ussed to take more... Like thhiss you might not make it much longer. But we'll sssee..."

Then the serpent shifted more toward the great dragon of some apocalyptic tales, spikes sprouting from its head and all along its spine like the teeth of a saw. And the demon's lidless eyes said that he knew what came next. He fought his binding, tossing and withing on the dungeon floor, but the snake was all around him, holding him tight, and then it constricted, breaking all his ribs at once. He yelled and sealed his fate.

The moment he opened his mouth, the snake shoved its spiked head inside and no biting down could break its armored hide. The spikes cut his lips and his throat bulged out unnaturally as the beast pushed its thick body ever further down, more cuts opening along the demon's throat from the inside, while the serpent disappeared into him entirely.

When the last of its tail was gone, he breathed again in anguished screams, sputtering blood from the cuts and foam from his dissolving and liquifying insides as the toxin spread inside of him. Sam was really glad that he couldn't see most of the damage done. But he heard Azazel's jarring screams and it made him more than just queasy, he pressed his hands to his ears to no longer have to hear it, but that didn't really help.

His thoughts, however, were heard. With a crunch, a bloody serpent head burst through the demon's rib cage, something big and moving in its fangs. The heart, he realized. Lucifer had ripped out Azazel's heart and gnawed on it now, as he erected his scaled head from the hole in the demon's chest and squeezed the hollow organ into Azazel's own mouth to silence him.

Then the serpent retracted back through the hole like a moray eel in an underwater cave and where his barb-like spinal spikes caught on meat, tendons or bones, he tore through the obstructions with little annoyed jerks. Foam, blood and the slurry of dissolved inner organs welled from the hole, but there were no more screams. Not that the noises in their stead were much better...

He really hardly saw anything but gushing liquids until the serpent's coiling body bent Azazel's addominal wall outward, its shape clearly showing on every turn. And then its spine must have turned to the outside, because those spikes sawed through the demon's belly and sides, leaving gashes as long as forearms each time.

However, the time came that Lucifer got bored of ripping the demon's gutts apart from the inside. So he bit into his abs from within and tore a second hole into Azazel's surface. Through there, he wound himself out of the wrecked body and returned to his more human shape in front of it. But through his more sensitive skin with all the tiny soft hairs, he felt just how soaked he was in demony stuff. His entire body glistened with it.

Yuck. The reflective sheen emphasized his toned shape to poor Sammy's eyes, who felt sick all the more for that part that found the devil hot like that, beaming with power, pride and joy. But it felt and smelled horrid, so he zapped a shower into the room, right above where he stood, yet wide enough to include Azazel and wash away everything that spilled out of him.

And when he turned the shower on, Azazel shook and screamed into his heart again, while the angel could appreciate the feeling of holy water cleansing him of all that was demonic. He steamed from the evaporating sheen on his skin and groaned in delight as the warm water soothed all the kinks he had gotten himself from squeezig into that pitiful body trembling behind him now.

Freshly showered he winked at Sam with a smile before continuing. He threw the heart away and cooed at the demon, asking mock-hurt if he didn't like the origin of sin and his entire kind with it. Darting out a still forked tongue, he chuckled that Lilith had liked it a lot and playfully suggested that Azazel might just be envious, but they could do something about that.

So Lucifer got a pair of tongs and a pruner. To give Azazel a forked tongue, too. The demon whined, no energy left to scream and tried to keep his mouth closed. Lucifer tutted about that, but wasn't bothered. Actually it looked more like he had been hoping for this reaction. He put the two tools down and took his scalpel instead, then held the demon's head as it was with one hand and brought the scalpel to his jaw with the other.

With a sparkle in his eye, he cut the skin and flesh off the almost v-shaped bone and opened the path to Azazel's pharynx not through his mouth but from beneath. He looked almost giddy playing around with the human anatomy of the demon's shape in Sam's head.

Now that his way could no longer be blocked, he took the tongs again and with them he gripped Azazel's tongue by the base. Unidentifiable sounds came from the demon's open throat, but Lucifer didn't particularly care. He tutted at the demon to hold still and took the puner despite the demon's struggeling. Or maybe for that. Because now, he tugged at the tongue in warning and when that went inconsequential, he 'accidentally' ripped it out.

"Oops, I might have pulled a bit too hard. Didn't know you were so fragile, Azie. Sorry, I'll have to find something else to split then."

He enjoyed it. All this was a game to him and he clearly enjoyed it. He had been so kind to him before that he had almost forgotten it, but now Sam clearly saw that this was the devil indeed, the one who had tortured the first human souls into demons. And it was not all hatred. He took pleasure in it, when he picked Azazel as the thing to be split and carved all flesh from his midsection, baring his lowest ribs, spine and the top of his hips. He loved it when he bent the demon's spine until it broke and he could toss half the demon across the room.

But Sam was not like that. He had felt righteous about Azazel's suffering in the beginning. After all, Azazel had done no less, he had deserved it. But this was moving it further and further away. And then the devil sing-songed that he could just fix him again when he was done and take the demon apart all over again. And again and again and again until he ran out of ideas.

When Azazel looked at Sam then and despite the state of his mouth pleaded the hunter to let it end, his thoughts carrying the message more than any sound he might have been capable of producing, apologizing for all that he had ever done to him and his family and all the other humans before, when he begged the hunter to just kill him, please, Sam could not be cruel anymore.

"Stop."

"Honey?"

"Stop it."

"...Why?"

"I think he had enough. You can kill him now."

"Sammy, I'm not sure yo-"

"Please. I'm over it."

"You can forgive him?"

"...Yes, I guess. I'm... I know that I am not mad anymore at least."

"Good."

And he put the demon out of his misery with a single blow, incinerating every part of it.

"I'm glad that you could get it out of your system."

"I... what?"

"Your dark desire. Looking through your head I found a very appropriate quote for this: The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. Thing is, Sam, you can't bottle up a craving forever. It will just keep building until it breaks loose. To extinguish it, you have to actually deal with it. You hated him, now you pity him. Your hatred is satisfied and more, evaporating it completely. Your always got that wrong..."

"What did we get wrong?"

"The tales of blood. You think that blood-stained is a description for a sinner, a damned soul, in opposition to someone who is 'washed in the blood of the lamb' and receives salvation."

"Sounds logical."

"But it is wrong. Who receives salvation if not the sinner? And what could be the greatest sacrifice, the proverbial lamb, if not salvation?"

"Sorry, I'm not following..."

"It means that sometimes you need to forfeit your right to heaven in order deserve it, commit a sin to be absolved. You need to stain your hands with blood in order to be washed in it. Your father made a deal with a demon, the worst thing anyone could do, something wrong. And yet he is in heaven now for his selfless self-sacrifice. I am telling you not to feel guilty for this, you had to do it to find peace. And only those who go in peace can go to heaven, else they would remain here as restless ghosts or descend into hell."

It was eerie, but felt true. He had always been so angry, with his father, Azazel, everyone. But right in that moment, he felt calm. He doubted that the anger would not return, but right then it was actually gone. Yet  something else jarred his tranquility:

"You are right about me. But you... Lucifer, you loved that."

"I did. God already made me a monster on purpose to instill terror in his enemies. I am not as strong as Michael, but I am many times fiercer, crueler, more creative in the worst of ways for the receiver. I was His most fearsome weapon. Even back when I was still indifferent to the pain of others. It was simply my duty. But then the Darkness made me like it."

"The Darkness?"

"Yes, she... She was gone before creation really started, so it doesn't matter now."

"Darkness is a she? And that-"

"Sam, I like you. But those are some primordial wounds you're rubbing salt into right now, so I would ask you to refrain from that topic."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I understand that, but now you do. ...Let's just say that I hate being called a demon so much because of what I lost. If the angels where the humans, I would have been Lilith to the Darkness' devil."

"I'm so sorry."

"I am, too. I am stained, but not washed, because everyone I get my hands on is merely a substitute for those that hurt me. So I hurt whoever I get and derive all the satisfaction from it that I can."

"...Lucifer, did you enjoy my pain, too? I know that you said you didn't, but now it looks li-"

"Sam. I am sadistic. I admit it. But you must believe me that in all of creation, there are two creatures that I would never enjoy the pain of. One is my lost little brother and protégé Gabriel, who suffered more than he could bear in heaven until he as the only angel ever chose nothing over staying. And the other one is the innocent soul that was made to suffer my same fate, you. I hated what happened to you, what he did to you, because it was just like everything bad was happening to me all over again and even knowing the end I could not stop it. Every time I heard you pray and knew that my brothers, who could have done something, ignored it, I wailed in my cage. But now I am here and I will guard you forever, so you will never suffer again."

"Like a real guardian angel. I have the devil as my guardian angel! My angel... My beautiful, fierce angel, can we still go back now?"

Because this was a touching as it was creepy and he didn't know whether to be grateful or afraid for everyone who might every think to cross him. So he choose to focus on the good side only cover the rest by dealing with reality.

The devil chuckled, nothing dark or sadistic about it now, just kindness, and returned to the verge of the apocalypse that he would never allow to happen. Maybe then God would show to ensure it and he would finally get his revenge.

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: Lucifer reviews all Azazel's transgressions and their implications, several of which Sam didn't know about and is shocked by, to get him to give him free reign, surprising Azazel with his apparent submission and revealing that he still has the angelic desire to serve a worthy God, which he denies insulted, though. He then playfully tortures Azazel in humanoid and serpent shape, visibly revelling in the demon's agony until Azazel begs Sam to let him die and sickened by what he has seen, Sam agrees. Afterwards Sam confronts Lucifer about his pleasure and Lucifer tells him that God made him a monster on purpose to instill terror in his enemies, but the Darkness made him like it. He refuses to tell him more about her, but when questioned about whether or not he liked Sam's torment after all, since he has proven himself to be just as sadistic as a demon, he says that there are exactly two people beside himself that he could never enjoy the pain of. The one human made to suffer his same fate, Sam, and his lost protégé, Gabriel. Sam believes him and finds himself calm and free of rage after Azazel's punishment, which Lucifer calls the symptoms of justice served. At last they return to their own time.


End file.
